Spanish songs translated to English with side-by-side lyrics and notes for Spanish learners
“I Woke Up in Your Arms”
Style: Ranchera, love song about waking up in your lover’s arms and spending the full day and night in bed together. One of Jose Alfredo Jimenez’s 100 Mexican classic songs.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Amanecí otra vez
Entre tus brazos
Y desperté llorando
De alegría.
I woke up again
In your arms
And I woke up crying
From joy.
“Pale Flower”
Album: 3.0, 2013
Style: Pop, bachata, tropical music. Song about nurturing a flower and blossoming a relationship.
Country: Puerto Rico
Listen: YouTube
Hallé una flor
Un día en el camino
Que apareció marchita y deshojada,
Ya casi pálida, ahogada en un suspiro.
Me la llevé a mi jardín para cuidarla.
I found a flower
One day walking
That appeared, wilted and leafless,
Already almost faded, drowning in a sigh.
I took it to my garden to take care of it.
“Kisses in War”
Album: Balas Perdidas (Lost Bullets), 2018
Style: Latin rock about love
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
¿Quién te dijo esa mentira?
Que eras fácil de olvidar.
No hagas caso a tus amigos,
Solo son testigos de la otra mitad.
Who told you that lie?
That you were easy to forget.
Don’t listen to your friends,
They’re just witnesses for the other side.
“Down To My Skin”
Album: Dejénme Llorar (Let Me Cry), 2012
Style: Alternative rock, romantic and melancholy, emo. About intense love and the fear of losing it.
Country: Mexico, USA (Arizona)
Listen: YouTube
No te quiero perder,
Que la distancia se devore nuestra miel,
Y perdamos la fe.
I don’t want to lose you,
For the distance to devour our honey,
And for us to lose faith.
No te quiero tener,
Y cuando menos piense,
Perderte otra vez,
Me duele hasta la piel.
I don’t want to have you,
And when I least expect it,
Lose you again,
It hurts me to down my skin.
“I Enjoy”
Album: Dejénme Llorar (Let Me Cry), 2012
Style: Alternative rock, folk pop, emo melancholy love song
Country: Mexico, USA (Arizona)
Listen: YouTube
Me complace amarte.
Disfruto acariciarte
Y ponerte a dormir.
Es escalofriante,
Tenerte de frente,
Hacerte sonreír.
I pleases me to love you.
I enjoy caressing you
And putting you to sleep.
It is goosebump-inducing,
Having you in front of me,
Making you smile.
“Tie Me Up”
Album: La Trenza (The Braid), 2017
Style: Pop about the push and pull power play of a BDSM romance.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Ay, quiéreme de a poco
Pero que no me dé cuenta y que nadie sepa.
Ven y cuídame
Pero que parezca que me estás haciendo daño.
Amárrame.
Ay, love me little by little
But make it so I don’t figure it out and no one knows.
Come and take care of me
But make it seem that you are harming me.
Tie me up.
“El Gavilán Pollero” (The Chicken Hawk) sung by Pedro Infante
Style: Ranchera about a man who lost his favorite hen and is in the bargaining stage of grief. This is a popular Mexican oldie and the title of a film from the golden age of Mexican cinema [YouTube link to the full film].
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
[Knocking sounds]
¡Cantinero! ¡Cantinero!
Barman! Barman!
Infeliz gavilán,
Se llevo la polla más linda que tenia en mi gallinero.
Wretched chicken hawk,
He took the most lovely hen I had in my chickenhouse.
“Let Our Love Be Known”
Album: SEIS (SIX), 2021
Style: Love song, mariachi serenade, romantic and public declaration of love.
Country: Chile, Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Desde que estoy a tu lado no sé concentrarme.
Pierdo noción de las horas, no sé a dónde voy.
Since I have been by your side, I cannot concentrate.
I lose track of time, don’t know where I’m going.
Cuando me ven mis amigos, suelen preguntarme,
Qué es lo que pasa conmigo, no saben quién soy.
When my friends see me, they often ask me,
What’s going on with me, they don’t know who I am.
“Beautiful Beloved”
Album: Personalidad (Personality), 1992
Style: Mariachi, regional Mexican, love song, romantic serenade
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Hermoso cariño,
Hermoso cariño
Que Dios me ha mandado
A ser destinado nomás para mí.
Beautiful beloved,
Beautiful beloved
That God has sent me
To be destined only for me.
Precioso regalo,
Precioso regalo
Del cielo ha llegado
Y que me ha colmado de dicha y amor.
Precious gift,
Precious gift
From heaven has arrived
And it fills me with bliss and love.
“Forever”
Album: Para Siempre (Forever), 2007
Style: Romantic mariachi serenade to a lover after a rough relationship spot. Relationships take work, but their love is forever.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Vale más, un buen amor
Que mil costales de oro.
Vale más, un buen amor
Por eso eres mi tesoro.
It’s worth more, a good love,
Than a thousand sacks of gold.
It’s worth more, a good love,
That’s why you are my treasure.
“A Million Springs”
Album: Para Siempre (Forever), 2007; Un Azteca en el Azteca (An Aztec in The Aztec), 2016
Style: Regional Mexican from Jalisco, with cello, guitar, and accordion. Song about unrequited love and serenades.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Te molesta si te hablo de mi amor,
Y me pides, por favor, olvide el tema,
Y que cambie la letra de mis canciones,
Y tu nombre, quite ya, de aquel poema.
It bothers you if I talk to you about my love,
And you ask me, please, to forget the topic,
And to change the lyrics of my songs,
And your name, to remove now, from that poem.
“If They Let Us”
Style: Ranchera, romantic song about leaving to a happy new beginning with your lover.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Si nos dejan,
Nos vamos a querer toda la vida.
Si nos dejan,
Nos vamos a vivir a un mundo nuevo.
If they let us,
We will love each other our whole lives.
If they let us,
We will go live in a new world.
Songlations 
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